a Conclusion we must not content our selves in this great Work of Renouncing ALL the sinful Lusts of the Flesh that we have our Minds enlighten'd so as to know what we ought to do whilst our Affections and Bodily Powers do remain Rebellious against the Dictates of our Minds and Consciences But we must have our whole Natures possest with an Aversion an Antipathy from the very Heart against all Sin and we must have both the Mind Will and Affections nay the very Lusts and Appetites fully bent against it And we must have on the contrary a hearty Love and Disposition to all Vertue wrought in all the same Faculties both of Soul and Body We must be Renewed in the Spirit of our Minds and put on the New Man which after God is Created in Righteousness and true Holiness Eph. 4.23 24. And when a Person is thus inwardly Chang'd throughout in all the Faculties and Powers of Soul and Body it is then only that he can be truly said to be a New Creature a New Man And this indeed This the hard Part. to become thus Renew'd in the Spirit of our Minds so as to have the Heart and Affections set against Sin and sinful Pleasures as well as the Mind convinc'd of the Evil of 'em is the hard Work This is certain that it is not possible for any Man to work so great a Change in his Nature of himself but it is the Spirit of God that must assist wonderfully in the doing of it And indeed That we may be said sincerely and throughly to Renounce the Flesh and ALL its sinful Lusts that Renovation of our Corrupted Nature wherein this Renunciation does consist must be such as is wrought in us by the Spirit and Grace of God This I say because it is very possible for a Man to be Chang'd from some sensual Courses to an utter Hatred thereof and yet remain in God's Eyes a Carnal and Vnregenerate Man and the reason is because his Change proceeds not from any Inward Vital Principle of Vertue but from some prudential Methods in the management of his Pleasures as some the most sensual Epicures that live shall become at length temperate and sober because their Constitutions will not bear a Debauch but as the Spirit of God had nothing to do in the Change so in their Hearts and Minds they remain still to be sensual And others again you shall meet who have a full Conviction in their Minds and Consciences through the Preaching of the Word of the Evil of Sin and yet in their Affections they Love it and their Lusts and Appetites Rebelling against the Reason of their Mind will have it and their Wills do finally chuse it so that these Persons with the Mind do serve the Law of God but with the Flesh the Law of Sin as St. Paul in that much mistaken Chapter Rom. 7.25 does represent as was now shew'd you the Case of the Carnal Jew abiding only under the Conviction of the Law But where the Spirit of God works the Change that Person is Sanctify'd wholly and the whole Spirit and Soul and Body will be preserved Blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Thes 5.23 So that such a Person shall effectually Renounce the Flesh and all its sinful Lusts both of the Inward and of the Outward Man And accordingly as we will draw nigh to God and have him draw nigh to us we must cleanse our hands and purifie our hearts and not be double-minded Jam. 4.8 We must through the Help of his Grace Cleanse our selves from all Filthiness of Flesh and Spirit perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God 2 Cor. 7.1 We must be always I say in the perfecting of one Degree after another our Holiness and that Image of God which we lost by our Fall for the subduing of All our Lusts must be the Work of Time and it is not of a sudden that we can get an entire Conquest over 'em ALL. But if in our Strivings against 'em we find our selves still more and more to get ground upon 'em we are in a hopeful Condition In a Word therefore Brethren we are Debtors not to the Flesh to live after the Flesh for if ye live after the Flesh ye shall die but if through the Spirit ye do Mortify the Deeds of the Body ye shall live for as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God Rom. 12.13 14. The Reason of having enlargd so much upon this one Article of Renouncing the Devil c. And so I have at length done with this no less Important than Copious Subject the Renouncing of the Devil the World and the Flesh It may seem indeed as if I have been too long upon the Explication of one single Article of our Covenant viz. the Renouncing the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Vanity of this wicked World and All the Sinful Lusts of the Flesh But if it be considered that half the Business of our Christian Religion is performed in Resisting the Enemies of our Salvation it will not be a Matter of Blame that I have been so long upon this Point especially in Instructing of Youth about it who ought to be very well fore-arm'd in order to their coming off Conquerors The truth of it is this Renouncing of the World the Flesh and the Devil that is the Resisting and Overcoming of all their Numerous Host of Temptations is the Christian's Warfare and great Work For as the Holy Scriptures do in a multitude of Texts Represent our State as a State of Warfare Fight the good Fight of Faith lay hold on Eternal Life for hereunto ye have been called before many Witnesses 1 Tim. 6.12 That is we Listed our selves in this Warfare at our Baptism in the Presence of the Church of Christ As our State I say is a State of Warfare against all these Spiritual Enemies so it does infinitely concern all of us to know as far as is possible All their Arts and Stratagems to deceive us and this I hope will be a sufficient Apology that I have been so improportionably long to what I have and shall be upon other Heads in shewing you what it is and how far you must Renounce the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Vanity of this wicked World and all the sinful Lusts of the Flesh THE XXII Lecture Secondly That I should Believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith HAVING largely Explain'd the first Condition of Life and Happiness and shew'd you what I conceive is meant by Renouncing the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Vanity of this wicked World and all the sinful Lusts of the Flesh I come now to do the like as to the Second Condition upon which we are to expect to be Justify'd to have our Sins Pardon'd and Eternal Life and Happiness conferr'd upon us and which we have also Covenanted with God to do and that is that We Believe all
an endless Life of Misery in another World This in few Words is the main scope and purport of those great and fundamental Truths of our Religion the Articles of our Christian Faith as they relate to the Method of Reconciliation betwixt God and Man And the same are every one of 'em the most powerful Motives to a Holy Life as shall be hereafter shewed 2. The most powerful Motives to a Holy Life And therefore to be undoubtedly perswaded of the infallible Truth and Certainty of these main Truths of Scripture must in a peculiar manner be incumbent upon us All Scripture is indeed given by Inspiration of God and is profitable for Doctrine for Reproof for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness that the Man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good Works 2 Tim. 3.16.17 That is all the Parts of Scripture are more or less serviceable to our Salvation and therefore far indeed be it from a Christian to entertain in his Breast a doubt of the Truth of any thing which God has reveal'd in his Word However this undoubted Perswasion which is necessary to constitute a true Believer must in an especial manner be had of the most important Truths because more does depend upon our having a stedfast and unwavering Belief of them than of others The Belief of these is the very Foundation of the Christian Life and the distinguishing Character of a Disciple of Christ if therefore our Faith should stagger as to these upon every Temptation there will ensue a Fall if not a Falling away and a total Apostacy from the Christian Religion And therefore the Belief of these Articles concerning the Transaction between God the Father and God the Son with relation to Man is made the great Condition of Man's Salvation This is Life Eternal to know that is to Believe Thee the only true GOD and JESVS CHRIST whom thou hast sent Joh. 17.3 4. To Believe is to be perswaded of all Revealed Truths in such manner and with such Acts of the Mind as is agreeable to the Nature of those several Truths 1. It is firmly to assent with the Mind to all Scripture-Truths indifferently 4. And as to Believe is to be undoubtedly perswaded of the Infallible Truth and Certainty of Divine Revelations so in such a manner and with such Acts of the Mind as is agreeable to the Nature of those several Revealed Truths For why The Nature of those Things of whose Truth we are to be perswaded are very different and therefore it must needs be that the Acts of Mind which cannot but receive their stamp and modification from the Things Believed must with reference thereunto be accordingly various As 1. There are several Truths contained in the Scriptures especially of the Old Testament which however they concern'd the Jews whilst their Religion was in force are not of that great Concernment to us Christians And therefore the Belief or Perswasion that may suffice us to have in respect of these or the like which are not of great Importance is only a general firm Assent of the Understanding whereby we yeild that these things are certainly so as God has declar'd because he who alone is True has spoke it Rom. 3.4 And indeed to all Scripture-Revelations indifferently considered and of what kind soever they be we must yeild a firm Assent because of the Authority of God declaring 'em to us 2. It is to Consent with the Will to live agreeably to the Importance of practical Truths 2. But besides some things of lesser Moment there are several Doctrines of weighty Importance and Concernment to us Reveal'd in the Holy Writ concerning which it is not sufficient that we only Assent unto 'em with our Minds that they are true but it is moreover necessary to give us the Title of True Believers that in reference to such Concerning Truths we should withal give up the Consent of our Wills to live as is fit for Persons of such Perswasions Thus we are taught in the Gospel That God has sent unto us his Onely Begotten Son to declare on what Covenants and Conditions he will receive us to Mercy And that this same Jesus will hereafter come as a King in all Pomp and Glory to Judge both the Quick and the Dead to pass Sentence upon us either of Happiness or of Misery according as we have performed or not performed that gracious Covenant he has made with us These are some of those weighty and important Truths contained in the Scriptures and which in the Creed are particularly proposed to our Belief and these that we may be said to Believe and to be throughly perswaded of the Truth of 'em it is not sufficient that we barely Assent and yield that they are true but we must Consent with our whole Wills that we will live and act as those who are fully perswaded of such Truths That is if we are throughly perswaded that Jesus Christ by being Crucify'd Dead and Bury'd has purchas'd Pardon for none other but those who abandoning their evil Ways do in the sincerity of their Hearts endeavour to please him we shall consent to Obey God's Holy Will and Commandments and to walk in the same all the Days of our Life And again if we are undoubtedly perswaded that he will finally come to Judge both the Quick and the Dead according to their Works we shall heartily Consent to conform our selves in Thought Word and Deed to his Holy Will and Pleasure To be undoubtedly perswaded of such Truths as these which do so much concern us does almost inseparably carry in the Notion of it a Consent of the Will to live as may be expected from such as are perswaded of the Truth of such Things and a bare Assent of the Mind that those Things are so will not be enough to give a Man the Title of a True Believer To Believe indeed in Propriety and Strictness of Speech may seem to signifie an Act of the Intellect only assenting to the Truth of a Proposition But in the Scripture Believing is a more practical Word and includes a Compliance of the Will with such Practices and Courses as are consequent upon such Belief if hearty and sincere And this is that which the Apostle Rom. 10.9 10. calls a Believing with the Heart for with the Heart Man believeth unto Righteousness And this was the Faith of those mention'd Acts 11.21 of whom it is said That many Believed and turned unto the Lord Not to instance here in Abraham's Faith of which I shall speak hereafter So that in short the Scriptural Notion of Faith or Belief with respect to those Practical Truths revealed to us in the Gospel is nothing else but a true serious resolute embracing of Christianity not only a being perswaded that all the Doctrines of Christ are true but a consenting and submitting to his Will and Commands in all things It is a Receiving and Accepting of Him as our Prophet to Instruct
me ye workers of iniquity Matth. 7.22 23. Luke 13.25 26. These had some kind of Faith in Christ by which they Prophesied in his Name and cast out Devils and did many wonderful Works They were such as were Hearers of his Word and Preachers of it too and had eaten and drunk in his Presence And because of this Faith and these Works they had a Hope and Confidence that Christ would open unto them and receive them into his Kingdom and would not be easily beaten off from this Confidence But the true reason why their Faith will stand them in no stead nor their Religious performances neither is because for all that they were workers of Iniquity they never heartily consented to the Terms of the Promise of Salvation by Christ in Repenting They did not first heartily resolve and after sincerely endeavour to turn from every known Sin unto every known Duty And in this very thing doth the defect of that Faith lie which is short of saving VVhich will yet farther appear in that St. James when he would state the difference between that Faith which is saving and that which is not fixeth it here The dead Faith is denominated such by him from its being alone without VVorks Jam. 2.17 Even so Faith if it hath not Works is dead being alone or by it self And again vers 20. But wilt thou know O vain Man that Faith without Works is dead And again ver 26. For as the body without the Spirit is dead so Faith without Works is dead also Meaning by its being dead that it avails a Man no more to his Justification and Salvation than a dead Corps avails to the producing the useful and serviceable effects of a Living Man or than a Tree that is dead avails to the bringing forth Fruit or than a few good words Depart in peace be ye filled and warmed will avail poor people when nothing is given which is needful to the body ver 15 16 17. In all this I do not deny but that there may be in such as do not savingly believe some Consent of the Will to do something towards performing the Condition of the Promise in Repenting and Obeying Such Men may Consent and resolve to forsake some sins and to do some yea many Duties who yet never savingly consent because they do not heartily consent and resolve to forsake All known sin and to do All known duties in which the sincerity of Repentance and Obedience doth consist to which the Promise is made Such Men may not be far from the Kingdom of God but yet must go farther if ever they would have any good ground of hope to enter into it But of this more afterwards CHAP. III. Whence this defect doth proceed I Have shewed before that there is the Faith of assent in the Understanding unto the truth of God's Testimony in some unregenerate Men as well as in the regenerate And in whomsoever the Faith of Consent in the Will to perform the Condition of the Promise is found it always proceeds from the Faith of Assent in the Understanding A Man always in order of Nature at least believes that the promised Benefits shall be made good to him in case he perform the Condition before he Consents to perform it and doth consent to perform the Condition in hope and confidence of obtaining the promised Benefits Now then the Question is whence is it and what is the reason that the Faith of Assent in the Understanding doth not always produce the same Consent in the Will in one as well as another and as it always doth when it becomes effectual to Justification and Salvation Why doth this Faith remain alone in some when as it is accompanied with Works in others I shall offer what I conceive to be the reason of this First in general and than more particularly The difference sometimes may proceed from the different measures and degrees of the evidence upon which the same Truth is believed One Man may have a clearer discerning of the evidence than another which causeth a stronger Assent in the discerning faculty and that stronger Assent in the Understanding may well cause a stronger Consent in the Will and a firm and lasting resolution As on the contrary a weak and partial Consent and resolution in the Will to the Condition sometimes proceeds from a weak Assent in the Mind to the Truth of God's Testimony or Promise and that from the weakness of the faculty in the discerning the evidence of that Truth which is the object of Faith But the reason most commonly why the Assent in the Understanding unto the Truth of God's Testimony doth not work a Consent in the Will to the Condition of the Promise is to be taken I conceive from the opposition which the lower faculties of the Soul the Will and Affections assisted and influenced by the sensual Appetites make against the superiour Faculty the Mind or Understanding so that they do not hearken to its Notices nor obey its Dictates The Will which is the Spring of Action is a middle Faculty between the Understanding and the sensitive Affections or Appetites and is solicited by both As the Understanding calls upon it to obey its rational Dictates in chusing the means which tend to the best end both which the Understanding represents to it from the Word of God so on the other hand the sensitive Affections solicite it to be on their side and to be active in making provision for the Flesh in chusing such things as tend to satisfie its Cravings and Lusts And because the Will hath usually been pre-ingaged to the Flesh and had a share in its Gratifications it 's not without much difficulty prevailed with to be consenting to and active in the crucifixion of those Affections and Lusts Which until the Will do and herein obey the enlightned Understanding the Faith of Assent in the Understanding abideth alone The Will 's obstinate adherence then to Mens fleshly Lusts and carnal Interests in opposition to that belief in the Understanding which puts it upon destroying them as absolutely necessary to the Man's Salvation as believing God touching the necessity of this as a means as well as it doth believe him touching the blessedness of the end this obstinate opposition in the Will I say is the true reason why the Faith which is in some Men is but a dead Faith How can ye believe saith our Saviour which seek honour one of another and seek not the honour that cometh from God only Joh. 5.44 Yes some of them could and did believe so far as to Assent in their Minds that Christ was no Impostor but one that came from God and that therefore his Doctrine must needs be true but they did not believe so as to be converted in their Wills to consent to part with their carnal interest of Honour and Reputation with their Party the Pharisees which they must have done as the case then stood if they would have confessed him
openly which to do was necessary to make them capable of the Promise of Salvation by him Joâ— 12.42 43. Among the chief Rulers many believed on him but because oâ— the Pharisees they did not confess him lest they should be put out of the Synagogue for they loved the praise of Men more than the praise of God These had more understanding than the common People who as they said knew not the Law John 7. and yet not so many of them as of the people believed on Christ so as to confess and follow him because their worldly interest being greater it held them faster and had the greater power over their Wills The unbelief then of Men where the Gospel comes is generally to be resolved into the obstinacy of their Wills in opposition to the convictions of their Understanding John 5.40 Ye will not come to me that ye might have life How oft would I have gathered you and ye would not Mat. 23.37 O that my people had hearkened to my counsel But Israel would none of me Psal 81.11 They did not chuse the fear of the Lord Prov. 1.29 They chose their own ways their Souls delighted in their abominations Isa 6.3 Thus much in general But I would shew yet more particularly how the Will doth obstruct the perfecting the work of Faith after it 's begun in the Understanding And it doth it as I conceive 1. By calling off the Understanding from a frequent consideration of that evidence by which it was first convinced of the Truth of God's Testimony touching the Promised Benefits and the Condition and Means of obtaining them and from a frequent application of it to the Will And this the Will can do For as the Understanding hath a power over the Will so far as to represent its apprehensions to the Will in order to its acting thereupon according to a Man 's own concerns therein so also the Will hath a kind of power over the Understanding both to put it upon frequent consideration to strengthen it self in the belief of that which the VVill would have to prove true and to be believed and also to call it off from so doing when there is a great reluctancy in the VVil against having that prove true which the Understanding represents as true And if the Understanding be taken off so that it hath not frequent recourse to that evidence which first procured its Assent unto the Truth of God's Testimony in the Gospel that it might be thereby nourished strengthened and maintained that Faith in the Understanding will languish and grow weak and so have no powerful operation upon the VVill to change and renew it and to procure its effectual consent to perform the Condition of the Promise when the Will stands disinclined of it self to the Verdict of the Understanding Besides if the Understanding doth not ply the VVill and frequently inculcate upon it it s own apprehensions concerning God's Testimony and the consequence and concernment of it to a Man 's own self thereby to make the VVord believed to be an ingrafted Word it will not work any Cure upon it or any thorough change in it The unwillingness in Men to have their Minds ingaged in the consideration of God's ways and their own is the reason of their turning back from him Job 34.27 They turned back from him and would not coâ—sider any of his ways As on the contrary the Scripture represents th conversion of a sinner as proceeding from the consideration of the bad tendency of his evil ways Ezek. 18.28 Because he considereth and turneth away from all his transgressions which he hath committed he shall surely live he shall not dye And our Saviour seems to cast mens profiting or not profiting their Belief or not Belief by hearing God's Testimony in the Gospel upon their considering or not considering of it Mark 4.24 And he said unto them Consider what you hear so Dr. Hammond reads it for with what measure ye meet viz. in considering or not considering it shall be measured to you again in profiting or not profiting which is to be understood according to God's ordinary proceeding with Men. The reason why the Faith of those resembled by the stony ground doth not abide or come to perfection is because they have no Root in themselves and that comes to pass for want of much consideration and a frequent working the first conviction of the mind from the evidence of Truth into the Will and Affections by a constant Consideration and close Application of it Acts 17.11 They searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so and therefore they Believed 2. When men hold fast their Lusts out of their great love to them notwithstanding their conviction in their Understandings and are not willing to part with them upon any terms the Fumes of those Lusts continually ascending will cloud and darken the Understanding as a thick Fogg doth the Sun and by degrees make it less capable of discerning its Object viz. saving Truth in its clear evidence and proportionably hinder its operation upon the Will The cares of this World and the deceitfulness of Riches and the lusts of other things choak the Word and it becometh unfruitful Mar. 4.19 He that hateth his Brother is in darkness and walketh in darkness and knoweth not whether he goes because darkness hath blinded his eyes 1 John 2.11 3. Sinful Mens Understandings are not so uncorrupt but that they are apt to be bribed by their Wills to cast about and devise how to evade the force and edge of their own Notices and Dictates and to attempt and baffle their former apprehensions and convictions to the end they may still retain their lusts without any great disturbance from their Understandings This when it is yielded to and put in practice is that which in Scripture is called Mens closing their eyes lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and should be converted and healed Mat. 13.15 And when this takes place in Professors of Christianity that do believe that Faith Repentance and Obedience are necessary to Salvation as the Condition on which it is promised the way by which they usually deceive their own Hearts is by perswading themselves that they do perform the Condition of the Promise in these when indeed they do not but frame to themselves Notions of saving Faith Repentance and Obedience different from the Scripture Notions of them as I shall shew in each of them 1. Many delude themselves by taking up a wrong Notion of Saving Faith and so think they have it when they have it not They believe indeed Christ to be the Son of God and Saviour of the World and that those shall be saved that believe in him and those damned that do not because the Scripture which they believe to be the Word of God saith so And thus far they believe rightly objectively But then they deceive their own Souls by
Sin most truly Diabolical for it is to be consider'd That tho' the Devil be the first Author of all Sin and instigates to every Kind yet there are many which Satan himself cannot commit As for Instance He cannot be Drunk nor commit Lewdness and the like himself because these are committed only in and by the Body whereas he is a Spirit but yet he is Naturally Proud and Ambitious And therefore tho' those other as being more visible and sensible are more Scandalous in the Eyes of Men yet this more Spiritual Wickedness Pride and Ambition and a Pharasaical Censoriousness and Thinking more Highly of One-self and more Disrespectfully of Others than is meet are more truly Diabolical and have more in their Nature of the Devil's Temper And as Pride so Envy Envy is another of the Devil's Qualities The Devil through his Pride and Rebellion having lost that high Station and Dignity he once enjoy'd in Heaven and seeing Man exalted to a Capacity of obtaining a Share in that Glory and Happiness from which he is excluded He is possest with the utmost Envy both towards God and Man Envying God the Service of us his Creatures and us both the Happiness of serving so Good a Master and those infinite Rewards which will be given us for our faithful Service and Obedience to him And from this his Envy proceeds that Rancourous Malice Malice also wherewith he is ever since Acted so as to be continually Contriving how to do us the greatest Mischief from whence he is called our Adversary the Devil 1 Pet. 5.8 Envy and Malice are indeed the very Natural Temper and Disposition of Satan so that he seems to be wholly made up thereof 'T was Pride as One said made him Envious his Envy that made him Spiteful and Malicious all which together make him a Devil And therefore as you would not appear to have something Diabolical in your very Natures Let all Bitterness and Wrath and Anger and Clamour and Evil-speaking be put away from you with all Malice and be Kind one to another Forgiving one another even as God for Christ's Sake hath Forgiven you Eph. 4.31 32. III. Such as are more the practice of Satan himself than other Sins viz. Murder Lastly There are some Sins more the Devil 's own Practice than others and do therefore deserve to be more particularly Styl'd the Works of the Devil And there are these Three Apostacy Murder and Lying which are expresly mention'd as his own Sins in that One remarkable Place of Scripture Joh. 8.44 The Devil was a Murderer from the beginning and abode not in the Truth because there is no Truth in him When he speaketh a Lie he speaketh of his own for he is a Liar and the Father of it He was a Murderer from the beginning He delights in humane Gore and no doubt the vast Slaughters of Men which have been made in Bloody Wars have been through the Instigation of Satan stirring up Ambitious Princes unjustly to Invade their Neighbours Countries that he might Glut his Appetite with Blood And for the same Reason he Oblig'd the Pagans his Worshipers to offer Men in Sacrifice to him And there is no Duel fought but he is first at the making of the Challenge and then at the Murderer's Elbow to direct the fatal Thrust In these last sort of Murders he hopes to do Two Works at once to destroy both Body and Soul in one instant and to be sure he will never fail being present where he can to all Intents and Purposes so effectually do the work of a Destroyer as he is styl'd Revel 9.11 He abode not in the Truth Hereby is denoted his Apostacy Apostacy and Falling off from God and his Service another of Satan's principal Works of Sin And if any of you who have given up your Names to Christ to be his Disciples and Followers should hereafter instead of Renouncing the World the Flesh and the Devil as you have solemnly Professed in your Baptism give your selves up to the Service of Satan of Mammon and of your filthy Lusts why you will be reckon'd amongst those that are Apostates from God and are turned aside after Satan 1 Tim. 5.15 Nay and if you should fall off from the Truth as it is here Profest in this Church of which you are Members to any Heretical Doctrines you will Imitate Satan in his Apostacy who abode not in the Truth Lying and especially Calumniating and Evil-speaking When he speaketh a Lie he speaketh of his own for he is a Liar and the Father of it A Lie was that whereby he deceiv'd and ruin'd Man at first Ye shall not surely dye said Satan Gen. 3.4 So contrary to what God himself had Threaten'd our First Parents in case they should Eat of the forbidden Fruit And it is by erroneous and false Doctrines which as Tares he sows in the Field of the Church whereby he has undone so many Souls ever since You must therefore Abhor a Lye or Speaking that which you do not Know to be exactly agreeable to the Truth of Things as you will not make your Selves Children of such a Father the Devil And especially you must beware of that sort of Lying whereby you will most nearly Resemble him and that is in Slandering and falsly Accusing of any One to the Ruine of his good Name Satan is particularly Stigmatized in Scripture for this sort of Lying and is therefore called The Accuser or Slanderer of the Brethren which accuseth them before God Day and Night Rev. 12.10 and it is observable that 1 Tim. 3.11 where Women are charged not to be Slanderers nor false Accusers the Word in the Original is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to be Devils which should be a Warning to them as they would dread so Black a Character to avoid Entertaining one another with Backbiting and speaking Evil of their Neighbours which yet I am afraid is the most usual Conversation when that Sex do meet together Indeed as the pernicious Lye utter'd for the Hurt or Disadvantage of our Neighbour is the most truly Diabolical So all sorts of Lying whatsoever renders such as are Notorious for it Contemptible and Vile amongst Men and Odious to God as does sufficiently appear by the Place and Company they are Rank'd with Rev. 22.15 Without that is Hell are Dogs and Sorcerers and Whoremongers and Murderers and Idolaters and whosoever loveth and maketh a Lye which should make you of all things in the World my Dear Youth to Beware of this Odious Hellish Sin of Lying and I do the more earnestly press you to Hate and Abhor it because Youth are most apt to be Addicted to it And so much for Sin consider'd as a Work of the Devil And now Secondly We should proceed to consider that other great Work of Satan his Tempting of us to Sin But this as it has been his great Employment ever since the Creation of Mankind and will be so as long
Laws seem most to thwart our Reason and his Dispensations seem most hard and severe Thus did Abraham the Father of the Faithful when God commanded him even to Slay his only Son Isaac he readily obey'd he did not stand to dispute the Case Gen. 22.10 And thus did Job in reference to the Dispensations of God's Providence when he was stript naked of his vast Possessions and even of his dear Children he even then blest God for it kissing as it were the Rod that stroke him The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away Blessed be the Name of the Lord Job 1.21 III. III. The Affections what and how to be renounc'd The Affections in the Carnal Man do sadly degenerate into what may too properly be called the sinful Lusts of the Flesh Our Passions and Affections are indeed in themselves of singular use to the perfecting of our Natures They are the Wings of the Soul to carry it forth with eagerness in the pursuit of that which is Good and with Aversation and Flight from that which is Evil. They are variously numbred up but the Master Affections are Love and Hatred which when they are rightly governed all the rest are so too but when they are misplac'd and out of order so in the same proportion are all the others And accordingly whereas then it is that our Love is rightly fix'd 1. When we place it upon a proper Object And 2. When we steer towards the Thing we love with Desires proportionable to the Good that is in the Object that is When the best and greatest Things are pursu'd with our chiefest Passions middle Things with a less and the lowest with the least So it is that so long as a Person remains Unregenerate he either first places his Love upon that which he should Hate which is the wrong Object as upon sinful Profits and Pleasures or secondly he loves Things of an Indifferent Nature such as are Earthly Things with an over Intense Affection beyond their true Worth and Value And so on the contrary as to Hatred the Carnal Mind hates that which he should love viz. God and Vertue The Carnal Mind is Enmity against God nor is it subject to the Law of God Rom. 8.7 Or else he hates some Things as the chiefest of all Evils viz. Sufferings and Afflictions when indeed they are of that Nature that upon due Consideration a Man shall be able to say That it is good for him that he has been Afflicted And accordingly when our Affections of either kind are either misplac'd upon wrong Objects or are disproportionate to the true worth and Evil that is in those Objects towards which it is lawful to be well or evilly affected in Moderate Degrees In either of these Cases I say our Affections shall become sinful Lusts of the Flesh and are necessary to be Renounced by us And 1. Those Affections of Love and Hatred must be utterly Renounc'd which we shall find our selves to have mis-plac'd upon wrong Objects I. As they are mis-plac'd upon wrong Objects that is instead of Loving we must utterly Hate and Abhor all Sin and sinful Pleasures So the Psalmist Psal 97.10 Ye that Love the Lord hate Evil. Now Sin is the greatest Evil in the World as being most directly contrary to the Holy Nature and Will of God and it is the Cause of all the Evils which befal us and therefore to take pleasure in Sin is so perverse a thing that so long as any Person remains thus wickedly Dispos'd he is an Enemy of God and no better than a Child of the Devil 1 Joh. 3.10 Thus must we not misplace our Love upon that greatest of all Evils which is Sin And so 2. Instead of Hating God and Vertue against whom the Carnal and Vnregenerate are at Enmity we must Entirely and Affectionately Love both which is so plain and palpable a Truth as needs neither Proof nor Enlargement And thus we are to Renounce the Affections of Love and Hatred whenever they are mis-plac'd upon undue Objects 2. And we must so far Renounce 'em as they are Disproportionate to the true Worth and Evil that is in those Objects towards which it is lawful to be well or evilly Affected in Moderate Degrees II. As they are disproportionate to the Love Worth and Evil that is in those Objects towards which it is lawful to be well or evilly affected in moderate Degrees That is 1st We must not Love God with an inferior Degree of Affection and Worldly Things with a Superior but as God is the Supreme Good in himself and the Author of all the Good we Enjoy we must therefore Love him accordingly with the Intensest Degree of Affection that we shall be able so Matth. 22.37 Thou shalt Love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind We must so Love him as chearfully to Renounce and Sacrifice all our Profits and Pleasures when call'd thereto that is We must deny our selves take up our Cross and follow him in Afflictions Distresses and Persecutions whenever the Cross shall be laid upon us Matth. 18.24 Nay and we must so Love him as even to Hate all others the Nearest and Dearest Relations in comparison of him Luk. 14.26 So far must we Renounce our Affections of Love as it is any wise disproportionate to the thing Beloved as it is too violently set upon perishing and worldly Goods and too cold towards God and Heavenly Things 2. And on the contrary we must also Renounce that other Affection of Hatred as it is Disproportionate to the Evil which is to be Hated There may be just occasion of Anger towards a Person and of Hatred of his ways but we must not let those Passions so far exceed their due Bounds as to degenerate into Wrath and Malice Let all Bitterness and Wrath and Anger and Clamour be put away from you with all Malice And be ye Kind one to another Tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you Eph. 4.31 32. 3. The Last of those Powers of our Corrupted Nature which are here to be Renounced are our Lusts and Appetites III. The Lusts and Appetites are such Sinful Lusts of the Flesh as are to be Renounc'd which in a State of Unregeneracy are indeed most directly and immediately no other than so many Sinful Lusts of the Flesh These were design'd by the God of Nature for our Preservation Our Appetites after Meat and Drink were Implanted in our Nature in order to preserve our own selves in Being and Cupidity or Lust for the Propagation and Preservation of a Posterity to succeed us But when either our Appetites or Lusts do desire 1. Vndue Objects Or 2. That which in it self is Lawful and Allowable in Vndue Measures they do then degenerate into Sinful Lusts of the Flesh and must be Renounced by us And First I. As they do desire Vndue Objects as to the Indulgence
and pass by the Imperfection of the Good they do teaching 'em to apply themselves to the Blessed Virgin and other Saints as Mediators with God for ' em Nay and some of their Doctrines as that of Merits and of Works of Super-errogation do teach 'em proudly to over-value their own Performances and to boast themselves in their Merit And therefore so far must we be from suffering our selves to be perswaded of the Truth of All these and the like Doctrines as Articles of our Christian Faith that we must utterly dissent from them all as unjust and unreasonable Impositions on the Belief of Christians In a word as we must strengthen our selves in the Belief of all those True and Genuine Articles of the Christian Faith so to Believe all these as necessary to Salvation is enough But to Believe more under the Character of Articles of a Christian's Faith especially if they be such Doctrines as do take off the Fears of Sinning and send us to other Mediators betwixt God and Man besides the Man Christ Jesus this is indeed a Belief not only superfluous as being a Belief of more than All the necessary Articles of a Christian's Faith but is a very sinful and criminal and superstitious Perswasion 2. To Believe ALL the Articles of the Christian Faith is not only to assent to All and every of those Articles in the Gross but to be fully perswaded of all and every of those single Truths contained in each of those Articles 2. To Believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith is to be fully perswaded of all and of every of those single Truths contain'd in each of those Articles Every one of the Articles of our Christian Faith is full of a great deal of Meaning and many of them do contain Truths of various Kinds and Importance Thus for Instance To believe that Jesus Christ was Crucified Dead and Buried does import this Comfortable as well as Fundamental Doctrine of Christianity That the Only Son of God suffered Death upon the Cross for our Redemption and that he made there by that one Oblation of himself once offered a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice Oblation and Satisfaction for the Sins of the whole World And accordingly it is said 1 Pet. 3.18 That Christ once suffered for Sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God And 21.24 it is said That he himself did bear our Sins in his own Body on the Tree But then this is not the whole that is meant in that Grand Article but also this other Doctrine That he suffered to Redeem us from all Iniquity that is he suffered on the Cross the Punishment of our Sins that we seeing how odious a Thing Sin is which could not be Atton'd for by a Sacrifice less valuable than the Blood of the Son of God might therefore abhor it and forsake it And this is also taught us in the very place now cited from St. Peter viz. 1 Epist 2.24 He his own self bear our Sins in his own Body upon the Tree that we being dead to Sin should live unto Righteousness A Heretick must be such by Believing only of one of those Truths contained in the Article And now a Person may become Guilty of Heresy by believing only One of those Truths contain'd in the Articles And accordingly there are Two opposite Heresies which do at this day most grievously afflict the Church of Christ amongst us and they do divide these two great Doctrines contain'd in this one Article betwixt ' em And they are therefore Heresies because they do so divide 'em and do not each of 'em Believe both these important Doctrines The Antinomians do Believe indeed that Christ did satisfy the Divine Justice for our Sins but so as to leave no Conditions to be perform'd by them And the Socinians on the other side owning that he came to draw us off from Sin deny that he made any Satisfaction for us So that both do fundamentally Err in the Faith tho' they Believe the Article in the gross that Christ was Crucify'd Dead and Buried because neither of them Believe the whole Truth contain'd in that Article And therefore as you must Believe All the Articles so All those Divine and Necessary Truths which are contain'd in every Article of your Christian Faith according to the full Explication and Meaning thereof given us in the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds These Creeds do not contain more or different Articles of Faith than the Apostle's Creed does but in these Creeds many Articles of our Christian Faith are exprest in the full Sence and Importance of 'em in opposition to those Heresies which did and do still pervert or restrain the Meaning of those Articles And thus you also see how you are to Believe All the Articles of your Christian Faith that you are not only to Believe every One of 'em but all that Divine Truth which is contained in each And so as I have before laid before you how you are to Renounce the Devil the World and the Flesh so now what it is to Believe all the Articles of your Christian Faith And so it only remains and then I shall have fully Explain'd to you all the Conditions of the Covenant of Grace that I shew you next what it is to Obey God's Holy Will and Commandments and to walk in the same all the days of our Life THE XXIII Lecture Thirdly That I should obey God's holy Will and Commandments and walk in the same all the days of my Life I Hope I have sufficiently Explain'd unto you the Two first Conditions bound upon you in your Baptismal Covenant as indispensibly necessary to your obtaining the Benefits of it which Conditions are First that you should Renounce the Devil c. Secondly That you should Believe c. And now I come to the Third which is That you should Obey c. And that I may fully and to the purpose Explain this to you I will First Lay before you what it is to Obey God's Holy Will and Commandments or how far you must be Obedient to the Holy Will and Commandments of God as ever you will hope to obtain Salvation or to be Inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven Secondly I will shew you what it is to Walk in the same all the Days of your Life or how long you must persevere in such Obedience which must be to the End of your Lives And Thirdly I will clear the Doctrine of Evangelical Obedience as so stated from those Doubts that may be raised against it And First I. What it is to obey God's Holy Will and Commandments Because nothing can be more necessary for you to be Instructed in than the Measures of that Obedience now under the Gospel or Covenant of Grace upon the performance of less than which you cannot expect to be made Inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven I will with what clearness I can shew you How far we must be Obedient
hereunto do our Antinomians teach their Disciples That saving Faith is nothing but our Perswasion or absolute concluding within our selves That our Sins are pardoned and that Christ is ours But this is a most false and dangerous account of Divine Faith False because God has no-where in Scripture told any Man amongst us that he in particular is Justified and shall be certainly Saved And Dangerous also because it tends to nourish Presumption in Men's Hearts and to make 'em Believe better of their State than it is God does indeed declare in his Word to all Men in General and Conditional Terms Mark 16.16 That whosoever believeth shall be saved and That Blessed are they who keep his Commandments that they may have right to the Tree of Life Rev. 22.14 And all Christians are to examine themselves whether they be in the Faith and to prove their own selves 2 Cor. 13.5 and if upon strict search he finds himself to have Repented throughly to have Believed practically and to have Obey'd sincerely he may have strong Hopes that his Sins are pardon'd and his Righteousness through Christ accepted only because the Heart is deceitful above all things so that no Man knoweth it Jer. 17.9 Let him be careful he does not deceive himself with false shews of Faith and Repentance and let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall 1 Cor. 10.10 But as for a Divine Faith which is a full Perswasion founded upon the Testimony of God in Scripture no Man can be said to have that concerning his own Acceptance because no Man has any Scripture-Revelation testifying it to him in particular And if Persons of Antinomian Principles shall say that the Assurance kindled in the Heart by the Spirit of God is a Divine Testimony to them and therefore may be sufficient to denominate such Assurance a Divine Faith then it must be granted by 'em that the written Word of God is not a sufficient Rule of Faith as not containing all Truths necessary to be Believed in order to Salvation amongst which they count this particular Assurance to be the chief which Persons of Protestant Principles will not own Nor indeed can any so far derogate from the Perfection of Scripture as to say that other Truths are necessary to be Believed in order to Salvation besides what are contained therein except it be such who are not afraid of those Words wherewith the Holy Canon is closed Rev. 22.18 If any Man shall add unto these things God shall add unto him the Plagues of this Book So that those Revelations only which are contained in Scripture are the proper Object of a Divine Faith But whatever is revealed in the Word a Christian must Believe And whatever is revealed in the Word a Christian must Believe as true for the Authority of God who declar'd it such And in the Holy Writings are contain'd Declarations of Divers kinds some of less others of greatest Consequence whereof the first need not to be so expresly apprehended but the latter must be both clearly Apprehended and firmly Believed A very great part of these Scripture-Truths of Consequence to be Believed are those various Precepts of Holy Living and Duties to God our Neighbour and our selves declared in the Gospel as necessary to be discharged by us in order to Salvation And it is as necessary an Act of Faith as any to Believe that our sincere Obedience to all the Divine Commandments is an indispensable Condition of Life and Happiness Again in the Holy Scriptures as we have Promises of inestimable Rewards to those who shall walk uprightly in the fear of God and on the other side Threatnings of the severest Punishments and that to all Eternity to all such as shall persist in Rebelling against Him So as to both these Promises and Threats we are to be undoubtedly perswaded of the Truth of 'em and that God's Veracity and Sincerity in the delivery therein is such that not a tittle of either shall fail But since neither the Fear of God's Threatnings nor the Encouragements of his Promises can prevail upon us in this our corrupt State to perform a perfect and unsinning Obedience to all God's Commands so that the best of Men will be found Sinners before God and will need a Mediator to compass their Reconciliation with him amongst all the Divine Revelations 3. Therefore 3. The Articles of our Christian Faith the chief amongst Scripture-Truths necessary to be Believ'd because 1. Therein are declar'd the only Method of Reconciliation betwixt God and Man through Jesus Christ and especially we are to be thus undoubtedly perswaded of the infallible Truth and Certainty of those main and fundamental Truths of Scripture the Articles of our Christian Faith wherein are declared the only Method of Reconciliation betwixt God and Man through our Saviour Jesus Christ as well as the strongest Motives to a Holy Life The Articles of our Creed do import as has been already spoke and shall hereafter by God's Assistance be fully explain'd and prov'd this comfortable Scheme of Divine Truths viz. That a God of infinite Perfection and most Glorious Attributes did at first create and give us our Being and that the same Almighty Father has from the beginning and will for ever exercise a Wise Just and Gracious Providence over all his Creatures that Man the work of his hands having rebell'd against his Maker God the Father did in his wise and good Providence so order it that His only Begotten Son taking our Nature upon him and being God-Man should come into the World amongst us and afterwards return to our Father which is in Heaven to mediate a Reconciliation betwixt him and us And to the end his Mediation might be effectual to salve the Dishonour done to God by our Revolt and reduce us to our Allegiance and Obedience to him that this Second Person in the Glorious Trinity did take upon him to discharge a Threefold Office viz. that of Prophet Priest and King By the first whereof he declar'd to us that Covenant and those Conditions on which God would receive us to Mercy By the second that of Priest he made way through the satisfaction he gave for the breach of our first Covenant for the Divine Goodness to receive us to Favour according to the Terms of the second and does still interceed with the Father for our Acceptance in the performance of such Conditions And by his Kingly Office he so governs by his Holy Spirit and Righteous Laws those who abandoning the Kingdom of Satan are admitted into his Kingdom the Holy Catholick Church that they shall be made meet for the Inheritance of the Saints in Light And in the Execution also of this his Royal Office having by his Almighty Power rais'd all Men from the Dead he will come again to judge 'em according to their Works forgiving the Offences of those who are penitent and allotting them to an Everlasting Life of Happiness and dooming the Impenitent to